The present invention relates generally to canoe and small boat transport. The outdoorsman has always been burdened by transportation problems created by the wilderness. Thick forests, murky swamps, muddy roads and rocky terrain present difficulties to a traveler loaded with gear and water transportation.
Boat trailers are commonly used for hauling the gear and the boat to the wilderness site. The trailer may be attached to the outdoorman's vehicle or the boat may be mounted on the roof of the vehicle.
Boat trailers pulled by a vehicle are inadequate for use in the field. Lightweight boats, attached to the roof of the vehicle, are appropriate for field use but when combined with other outdoor gear, create traveling problems. Accordingly, there is a need for a boat trailer for use in the field that is easy to carry and hauls the boat in the field. As for handicapped individuals, transporting a boat or canoe through the wilderness is even more of a problem. The art has simply failed to provide ground transportation for the handicapped attempting to carry a canoe through rough terrain.
Several prior art attempts to provide an easy to handle quick disassembly boat dolly have failed because of poor design. For example, Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,494, shows a boat beaching gear having a pair of hooklike side members connected by a line of rope that runs underneath the boat. Unfortunately, the arrangement taught by Wilson requires the outdoorsman to use rope and angle iron creating an unstable vehicle likely to collapse in rough terrain such as a swamp or a marsh. Other attempts, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,392,665 and 4,801,152, are fine for pavement but are mechanically unsound for field use.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a boat carrier means that can collapse into a small package for compact storage.
The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.